You have bought your shower cubicle and made a conscious decision to not use tiles again (and a wise choice we might say!) Opting for panels rather than tiles makes perfect sense as they offer a whole range of advantages over their more primitive counterparts. If you are limiting the panel to just the cubicle area and are not fitting them around the rest rest of the room then you will need to make a decision as to where the panels are going to finish. You have 3 basic options:
- run the panels outside the shower frame and finish it off with a trim
- run the panels to finish flush with the outside of the frame
- fit the panels inside the cubicle and butt them up to the frame
The photo above shows option 1 where the panels can be seen protruding beyond the cubicle itself and coming to a stop several inches past the frame and the left hand side. The panels have been edged with a Capping Trim otherwise a cut edge would be visible (even if there was no cut edge, all of our panels have a tongue and groove system so they do not possess a flat, finished edge). On the right hand side the panels have been run right across the wall – which would be the same method if you were decorating the whole bathroom.
The above photo corresponds to installation method 2. Here, the panels again have been run behind the cubicle frame (it is important to remember that the installation order is as follows: shower tray > wall panels > cubicle frame). The panels have been stopped to finish flush with the outside of the cubicle frame, and again a capping trim has been used to cover up the cut edge. This option is a little trickier as you have to make sure the cubicle frame has enough flexibility in its design to enable you to line it up with the edge of the panel. Usually it is best to assemble the enclosure and dry fit it to mark where it will finish (don’t forget to add on the thickness of the shower panels if you are dry fitting against the bare walls)
Option 3 is shown here, where the panels are fitted inside the cubicle with nothing protruding past the frame. With this method it is usually best to fit the tray first, next fit the enclosure and then panel inside the cubicle. You can use a capping trim that can butt up to the frame if you are not that confident of achieving a tight fit (see our panel scribing page for instructions on how to make sure you get a neat finish). If you have read up and now have all the skills you can just use this method to fit snugly against the frame and seal off with a good quality silicone.
Method 3 would be the best option to use if you are thinking of fitting inside an existing shower cubicle – the glass enclosure part of the shower does not usually come away very easily without damage so it is best to leave it in place and fit inside. Our larger panels, like the Neptune Range, can be a little tricky to use in these circumstances as they are physically large sections that you might struggle to get through the shower door apertures. They are, hower, perfect for fitting using methods 1 or 2.
